In August comes my birthday. (It’s on the fifth. You know, in case you want to get me a gift.)

In August comes the Indiana State Fair. I love the fair. Chef and I try to go every year. We like to visit the Swine Barn to see the World’s Largest Boar, which is usually simultaneously amazing and a little disgusting. We like to go to the Horse Barn to see the pretty equines. I am sometimes in awe of how big horses can get. We like the Cattle Barn, and we like to try to make the cows moo at us. We like the Sheep Barn (which also houses goats. I think goats are cute!) I have been told by 4-H’ers that sheep are incredibly stupid. Sometimes when we’re in the Sheep Barn, we see kids trying to get their sheep to the show ring, and they poke them in the bum to get them to move. And not just in the bum-cheeks (do sheep have bum-cheeks?), but really truly in the bum. That can’t be nice, for the sheep or the kid… though admittedly the kid uses some sort of stick or staff. But still. We also like the Pioneer Our Land Pavilion, mostly because they often have free stuff they’re giving out. (We like free stuff!) We like the Ag-Hort Building to look at the veggies — some of which are HUUUUUUGE! We always visit the Indiana Beekeepers and usually pick up a ridiculous amount of pamphlets because someday we want bees. We also enjoy the Poultry & Rabbit Barn. (In fact, this year my niece and nephew will have rabbits there, so we’ll have to see if we can find them.) We generally avoid the Midway. We aren’t as young as we used to be, and carnie rides make us sick these days. We like to get lunch from the Indiana Pork Producers, or the Cattlemen’s Club or the Dairy Bar (which I always call the Dairy Barn because their booth is shaped like a huge barn. Or is it really called the Dairy Barn and I call it the Dairy Bar?) We also always stop at the Hot Wisconsin Cheese booth. The workers usually really are from Wisconsin, and the cheese is yummy. I don’t know… maybe I like the State Fair because it feels like all the small towns in the state gathered together for a couple of weeks.

Also in August, we will start Financial Peace University. A couple at our church is heading up the classes, which start August 25. I feel like, even though we’re already on a good path to financial freedom using Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, taking this 13-week class might help us even more. By the way, if you live nearby and you want to join the class, let me know and I’ll get you all the info.

And lastly, in August, we are due to pay off our first debt. Yay! I think that paying off this debt and closing the account will be a real encouragement to me. Two years, which is how long it will be until we are free of all our consumer debt (that is, all debt except for the home mortgage) seems a long time to me right now, so knowing that we have one debt knocked out will be wonderful.

August is coming up. Let’s celebrate! (Don’t forget about the birthday presents….)